Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17277 by Ross Finnie on 24 August 2001, when decisions will be made on the 476 applications submitted this year under the Rural Stewardship Scheme.

Ross Finnie: Decisions will be made as soon as possible after the Rural Stewardship Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2001 come into force.

Asylum Seekers

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to address the issues identified by the Social Justice Committee’s response to Petition PE242 on asylum seekers.

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address problems faced by asylum seekers in Scotland.

Jackie Baillie: We have announced a number of significant developments in relation to asylum and refugee issues.

  Scotland is to have its own minister with responsibility for all devolved aspects of asylum issues. These include health, education, social work and police matters as they relate to asylum seekers.

  We made an announcement on 19 September about social inclusion partnership involvement. The Glasgow Alliance will receive an extra £700,000 to develop projects in areas such as Sighthill and Barmulloch that will tackle community integration and improve local services.

  These projects will benefit both the established and the new asylum seeker population in Sighthill.

  We also announced on 20 September extra money to improve access to further education for basic English language classes. We announced new funding of £1.7 million in the current financial year, including £0.5 million to boost college provision specifically for asylum seekers.

  An "anti-bullying in Schools" newsletter will be available in October.

  The research study into the effects of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in Scotland is about to start.

  We are establishing the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum, which I will lead.

  We are establishing a unit within the Executive, whose sole task will be to deal with asylum seekers and with refugee integration issues: it will support ministers on the forum.

  This will provide a sound basis for the further consideration of asylum and refugee issues in Scotland.

Best Value

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out an investigation into why the average cost of providing a local authority residential care place for older people and people with dementia in the South Lanarkshire council area in both 2000-01 and 2001-02 was, according to the South Lanarkshire Joint Community Care Plan 2001-04 Summary of Expenditure 2000-01 and Purchasing Intentions 2001-02, more than double that for an independent or voluntary sector residential care place.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is for each council to demonstrate to electors and auditors that it is achieving Best Value in its use of resources.

Central Heating

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive when funding will be made available for the installation of central heating for pensioners in owner-occupied houses.

Jackie Baillie: Eaga Partnership Ltd were appointed to administer the scheme for the private sector on 29 August. Funding was made available from that date.

Central Heating

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16545 by Jackie Baillie on 31 July 2001, whether it will collect interim information in relation to the number of heating units installed, broken down by housing sector, during each year of the central heating programme and whether it will place such information in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre at quarterly intervals.

Jackie Baillie: The information specified will be collected and a report will be published each year.

Cities

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the members of the sounding board and academic panel established in connection with its review of cities were chosen.

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms were used to try to ensure gender balance on the sounding board and academic panel established in connection with its review of cities and what assessment it has made of the appropriateness of the mechanisms used in the light of the final membership of the board and panel.

Angus MacKay: In appointing the membership of the sounding board and the academic panel, the Scottish Executive sought to achieve a mix of experience, organisational affiliations, geographical coverage and gender. Unfortunately not all the women who were asked to participate were able to join.

  However, membership of these groups is not closed and we are currently seeking additional members in order to cover specific issues that arise as the review develops.

Community Care

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17551 by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 September 2001, whether it will give specific details of any representations it has made or plans to make to HM Treasury on the arrangements for the payment to it of the social security element of personal care.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive will continue to have constructive discussions with the UK Government on all issues which may impact on UK responsibilities.

Community Care

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lanarkshire branch of Scottish Care has rescinded, or intends to rescind, its termination of its contract with North and South Lanarkshire Councils following the recent agreement reached between the Executive, Scottish Care and COSLA on the funding of private care home places and, if it does not, how many residents in private care homes will need to find alternative accommodation.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for the councils concerned and for Scottish Care.

Community Care

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital patients categorised as delayed discharges are currently awaiting transfer to (a) local authority and (b) private residential or nursing homes and how many additional bed spaces will now be made available as a result of the recent agreement reached between it, Scottish Care and COSLA on the funding of private care home places, broken down by health board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Most recent figures from Information and Statistics Division’s Patients Ready for Discharge in the NHSScotland  show that, at 15 July 2001, there were 98 patients delayed in Scottish hospitals and awaiting a place in a local authority residential or nursing home and 425 delayed and awaiting a place in a private home. These can be broken down by health board area as follows:

  

Health Board area 
  

No. delayed awaiting place in local authority 
  residential or nursing home 
  

No. delayed awaiting a place in private 
  residential or nursing home 
  


Argyll and Clyde 
  

19 
  

78 
  


Ayrshire and Arran 
  

1 
  

2 
  


BORDERs 
  

1 
  

- 
  


Dumfries and Galloway 
  

- 
  

- 
  


Fife 
  

11 
  

17 
  


Forth Valley 
  

10 
  

11 
  


Glasgow 
  

19 
  

94 
  


Grampian 
  

5 
  

12 
  


Highland 
  

1 
  

10 
  


Lanarkshire 
  

4 
  

37 
  


Lothian 
  

18 
  

125 
  


Orkney 
  

4 
  

- 
  


Shetland 
  

- 
  

- 
  


Tayside 
  

1 
  

15 
  


Western Isles 
  

4 
  

24 
  


Total 
  

98 
  

425 
  



  Estimates of the number of beds made available as a result of the talks between the Executive, Scottish Care and COSLA are not available centrally.

Further Education

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many college students (a) commenced, (b) completed and (c) passed courses in (i) printing, (ii) electronics, (iii) engineering and (iv) construction in each year since 1997.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Some of the information requested is not held centrally, including data on completions. Graduate data is not available for further education (FE) courses, or yet for higher education (HE) courses for the academic year 1999-2000.

  The following information is available:

  Entrants to Further Education Courses in Further Education Colleges in Scotland by Specified Subject, 1997-98 to 1999-20001

  

 

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  


Printing 
  

383 
  

446 
  

451 
  


Electronics 2


3,608 
  

3,494 
  

3,073 
  


Engineering 2


16,132 
  

15,392 
  

15,608 
  


Construction 
  

15,077 
  

9,886 
  

11,220 
  



  Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) and Scottish Executive.

  Entrants to Higher Education Courses in Further Education Colleges in Scotland by specified subject,

  1997-98 to 1999-20001

  

 

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  



Full-time 
  

Part-time 
  

Full-time 
  

Part-time 
  

Full-time 
  

Part-time 
  


Printing 
  

89 
  

165 
  

102 
  

121 
  

76 
  

118 
  


Electronics2


856 
  

1,192 
  

919 
  

1,438 
  

836 
  

1,155 
  


Engineering2


1,448 
  

3,808 
  

1,316 
  

3,884 
  

1,408 
  

3,809 
  


Construction 
  

290 
  

1,223 
  

257 
  

1,241 
  

174 
  

1,085 
  



  Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) and Scottish Executive.

  Graduates from Full Time Higher Education Courses in Further Education Colleges in Scotland by specified subject, 1997-98 to 1998-99*1

  

 

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  


Printing 
  

63 
  

59 
  


Electronics2


435 
  

441 
  


Engineering2


847 
  

934 
  


Construction 
  

166 
  

89 
  



  Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) and Scottish Executive.

  *Graduate data for 1999-2000 is not yet available.

  Notes:

  1. Entrant data is defined as any student undertaking the first year of the current course of study. Graduate data is defined as any student successfully completing a course of full time higher education (HNC/HND level and above) in an further education college.

  2. The category Engineering normally includes Electronics, but these figures have been disaggregated for the purposes of this answer.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15309 by Ms Margaret Curran on 17 May 2001, what progress the Housing and Employment Working Group is making in identifying the mechanisms required to maximise employment opportunities and inclusion benefits from future housing investment.

Jackie Baillie: The housing and employment working group report is being completed. The group intends to hold a seminar in the autumn at which the report will be considered.

Land

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it is giving the people of Gigha in relation to a community buy out for the island.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Gigha residents are considering whether to take forward the option of a community purchase. The Scottish Land Fund and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Community Land Unit are currently funding feasibility studies into this, on behalf of the island’s residents. This study will inform their decision, and has yet to be concluded.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether people with schizophrenia in the Lothian area who are being treated in a community setting are able to access all appropriate medication via their GP.

Susan Deacon: GPs in Lothian are able to prescribe a range of drugs for patients with schizophrenia. However, the Lothian Drug Evaluation Panel has advised GPs in the Lothian area that treatment with some of these drugs should be initiated and supervised by a specialist.

NHS

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice or guidance has been issued by the NHS to ensure that there is full community representation and participation in the options appraisal exercises being undertaken by health boards and NHS Trusts.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive believes that it is absolutely essential to engage communities and the public generally in the design of health care services, including option appraisal exercises. The new NHS Boards are committed to that principle. Formal advice to the NHS on involving the public in developing health services was provided by the then Scottish Office in 1975.

  In the Scottish Health Plan Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change, published in December last year, we gave a commitment to review guidance on formal NHS consultation to ensure that it meets the needs of a modern health care system, and takes into account the changes which have been made following Our National Health. This work is under way and further guidance will be issued in the near future.

Private Finance Initiative

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what standard penalty clauses have been included in its Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts and how many have been invoked since May 1999.

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any financial penalties imposed on private sector firms in each of the last five years for failures to deliver in relation to key performance indicators in (a) Private Finance Initiative and (b) Public/Private Partnership projects.

Angus MacKay: The Treasury Taskforce Standardisation of PFI Contracts has been available since July 1999. A copy is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 16339). It is broadly indicative of the type of provisions contained within PFI contracts although the Executive’s contracts predate it. Payments under a PFI contract are routinely adjusted to reflect performance against it.

Private Finance Initiative

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Private Finance Initiative projects have been managed by it and the Scottish Office in each of the last 10 years; what its estimate is of the cost savings made in each project compared with the public sector alternative, and what outstanding payments will be made in relation to each project in each of the next 15 years.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive (and formerly the Scottish Office) has managed three Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects in the last 10 years: Skye Bridge (signed 1991); M6 (signed 1997); Kilmarnock Prison (signed 1997). The Executive’s policy is that PFI should only be used where it represents best value for money. To test for value for money, bids received are compared to a Public Sector Comparator (PSC) which represents an estimate of the whole life cost of procuring of the specified services by conventional means.

  In the case of the Skye Bridge, a PSC was not calculated, as the project would not have gone ahead other than under private finance. Government guidance published in 1995 also accepted this as a reason for not producing a PSC.

  The following table shows the cost savings by comparing the PSC with the PFI bid for the M6 DBFO and Kilmarnock Prison projects.

  

 

PSC (£ million) 
  

PFI (£ million) 
  

Saving (£ million) 
  


M6 DBFO 
  

210 
  

193 
  

17 
  


Kilmarnock Prison 
  

263 
  

130 
  

133 
  



  Outstanding payments to be made in relation to each project are matters of commercial confidentiality.

Private Finance Initiative

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) Private Finance Initiative and (b) Public/Private Partnership contracts have been agreed in each of the last five years; how many were satisfactorily completed, and in how many was compensation (i) claimed from and (ii) paid by contractors, detailing the reason, the amount and the project in each case.

Angus MacKay: The following table shows the number of Private Finance Initiative contracts that have been agreed (signed) and satisfactorily completed (operational) in each of the last five years. Information on compensation is commercially confidential and being a matter for the public sector partners for each individual contract, is not held centrally. Relevant information on other forms of Public/Private Partnerships is not held centrally.

  

Year 
  

Signed 
  

Operational* 
  


1996-97 
  

1 
  

4 
  


1997-98 
  

0 
  

8 
  


1998-99 
  

8 
  

7 
  


1999-2000 
  

8 
  

3 
  


2000-01 
  

6 
  

1 
  



  *The reference date for operational projects has been taken as the date of financial close.

Public Inquiries

Ben Wallace (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of each public inquiry established since 1995 has been, including salaries, expenses, accommodation, printing and any other items.

Angus MacKay: This information is not held centrally and could only be gathered at disproportionate cost.

Waste Management

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much treated sewage sludge was applied to agricultural land last year and how much is expected to be applied this year.

Ross Finnie: About 12,500 tonnes of dry solids were applied last year and it is estimated that about 30,500 tonnes of dry solids will be applied this year.

Youth Crime

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin & Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in securing joined-up working on initiatives aimed at preventing children becoming involved in youth crime.

Nicol Stephen: Every local authority has established multi-disciplinary teams involving the statutory and voluntary agencies concerned with juvenile justice. These teams are identifying areas of need and gaps in existing resources. They are also developing programmes to tackle offending behaviour using the £20 million the Executive is making available over the next three years.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Childcare

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what the projected cost will be in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2002-03 and (c) 2003-04 of the Parliament’s new child care voucher scheme which will be available to MSPs and staff.

Sir David Steel: We estimate that the cost of the scheme will be up to around £200,000 per annum. Since the scheme is being introduced later this year, the cost in the current financial year will be considerably less.